National Trust Jersey Seeks Funds for Storm Damage Repairs

The National Trust Jersey is exploring alternative funding sources for woodland repairs, stating that its storm budget has been “well and truly used up.” More than £20,000 has already been expended. Jon Parkes of the National Trust for Jersey indicated he is “looking at reserves everywhere I can to, sort of, sort these problems out.” He emphasized that the work demands a very high level of skill, which incurs significant costs. Parkes noted that while managing a single damaged site might be feasible, the Trust’s numerous affected locations across the island present “huge” financial implications. Fern Valley has remained inaccessible to the public since a tornado struck the island on November 1, 2023. Storm Ciarán inflicted substantial damage across numerous sites managed by the charity, with Fern Valley being among the most severely impacted. Mr. Parkes highlighted the presence of “a lot of hidden dangers here,” explaining, “There’s lots of dead, broken wood above the path. If you were to walk in here you might not be aware of that but a slight gust of wind can bring that down.” He also mentioned, “On the whole, people have been very respectful. We do have occasionally people walking through and we politely explain to them why it’s dangerous to be in here.” The National Trust deliberately refrained from conducting work in the valley during the bird breeding season, a decision Mr. Parkes clarified was made to “put nature in front of everything that we do.” He elaborated, “The level of disturbance here during the storm was very high.” Parkes added, “We have squirrel populations here, lots of breeding birds, so keeping out of those areas when they have an opportunity to breed during the summer, we felt was really important.” He expressed hope that “Once we move into next spring, we hope there will be no more disturbance and the birds can have it back to themselves.” The restoration efforts at Fern Valley are anticipated to span several weeks, with the charity aiming for a public reopening prior to Christmas 2024.